Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Tag (No, not the body spray...)

I wasn't sure I would ever come up with anything worthy of following that last post.

Then Jeanne tagged me.

Here is how it works:

1) Grab the book closest to you
2) Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence
3) Post the text of the following three sentences
4) Name the author and book title
5) Tag three people to do the same

"It might seem elementary that a follower of Jesus should look for ways to hear the voice of the Master, but we do not easily topple the thick barriers to attentive listening.

To hear the voice of the Lord God must be very difficult; otherwise, it's hard to account for the hundreds of verses in Scripture which exhort us to hear. Most notable of these is the shema (Hebrew for "hear"), which lies at the heart of Jewish worship: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone" (Deut. 6:4).

From "Pilgrim Heart, by Darryl Tippens

I started this book last August. No, I'm not finished yet. Sometimes that happens. There are books that just can't be digested quickly.

I tag the following:
1. Coach Mike
2. Youth Minister Franklin
3. Deep thinker Owen

6 comments:

Mike Morton said...

Not too sure this is what you were looking for... but here' goes.

1) Grab the book closest to you OK
2) Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence DONE
3) Post the text of the following three sentences Sorry?

"What will they serve with the roast? I spectators and beans." (spec-ta-tors... to presuppose an encounter with potatoes)

Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Dictionary II

4) Name the author and book title
5) Tag three people to do the same

How 'bout a little sentimental... Don't know who I'd send it to, so I'll sentimental picture to someone. K?

Jeanise said...

Yep. That's my husband.
Gersh mes so prawud.

Shane Coffman said...

Nice. I expected something from John Wooden's book of coaching.

Or maybe even some Dora the Explorer.

Anonymous said...

"Hear the voice of the master" is difficult? The Hebrew word "shema"
is in more modern terms "Pay attention Hebrew!" A good lesson for us today. Do we pay attention to the Bible today or do we just pay lip service, talk "happy talk" and use all of the modern religious lingo?

Dad

Shane Coffman said...

The chapter this quote comes from is on silence. Some sentences leading up to the ones posted:



"The pilgrim heart is an attentive heart, one skilled at screening out the endless chatter, the distracting ambient "white noise" of daily existence. For the faithful follower of Jesus it is necessary, at times, to escape what Thomas Merton excoriates as "the general meaninglessness of countless slogans and cliches repeated over and over again so that in the end one listens without hearing and responds without thinking."



Yes, it's hard to listen. There are too many other things competing for our attention in this world. Jobs, hobbies, relationships, activities, and on and on.

To be able to truly focus on Him and what He says, we must find a way to tune the other chatter out. If our minds are constantly filled with thoughts of work or sports or whatever else, they will have no room to hear the Master.

That's the hard part.

Franklin Wood said...

OK, this is gonna sound weird...

"Monica's experience profoundly illustrates the need for attachment. While working in a rehab center for behavior-disordered adolescents Monica found herself connecting with the extremely emotionally troubled David. For a long while her main contact with the boy involved restraint."

I'm actually reading a YOUTH MINISTRY book right now!! It is called "Shaping the Spiritual Life of Students" by Richard R. Dunn.
It is OK, if a little abstract.
I wish you had asked about a month ago when I was reading "Just Walk Across the Room" by Bill Hybels!!! Or, before that, two books about writing that were excellent!

Thanks for the tag!